[Gutenberg 36992] • The Ontario Archives: Scope of its Operations

This monumental work of 1,436 pages contains records of the claims for losses of over twelve hundred persons who found it necessary to flee to Canada during and immediately after the Revolutionary War. While it does not contain documents supporting claims for compensation, it does consist of the extensive notes taken by the Commissioners who heard the claimants from 1783 to 1790. These notes contain a goldmine of biographical, historical, and genealogical data, and "sum up the position more pungently" than the actual documents which support the claims for compensation. In general, we are given the claimant's name, his country or place of origin, reason for emigrating, date or migration, place of residence in America, occupation, names of family members and friends, location and value of confiscated property, war service rendered, losses sustained, evidence of character, statements of witnesses, notes of deeds and wills, and highlights of the claimant's experiences during the war.